Killing Time
by Miss Aisling
Summary: Sometimes we can choose what we wish to see and protect, yet what if our decision proved wrong? (Abstract short)


Here is a little **one part** story. Strangely enough, I thought of this yesterday afternoon and had it read to post by last night. That almost never happens ; Feedback would be much appriciated.

Frailly it rested on her mind, softly coaxing, nudging her to think, to breathe thick suffocating air. It ebbed slightly with rest - it lingered as in some lucid dream. Yet it wasn't a dream. However slight it seemed, however gentle and passive the encouragements, that one little inkling had more sway over her than any other thought swirling under the surface of her serenity.

She held herself still, her hand trembling slightly where it lay at her side. Her fingers itched and twitched at the confines they would never be free of - one of the symbols of her eternal bondage.

Yet her other hand gripped firm on the source of her power. She held it with a steadfast surety unlike any other. Long and proud, it glistened with an abstract poise, an intelligence gained from eons of existence, yet also, calmness to rival still waters.

Such power, masked by opaque subterfuge! No one knew of the epic struggle that lay within her. No one knew of the terrible nagging thought that haunted her endless day.

No one knew that she wished for death.

Yes, it had often crossed her mind. Like an exit adorned with a ghostly luminous sign, she viewed it as an option. After all, an eternity is such a long time to spend alone.

A crisp sigh passed her dry lips. The air was unmoving, even with her sudden exhalation. This was, after all, a void. No fresh dewy grass grew neatly at her feet. No soft caressing breezes danced through her hair. There was nothing to break the monotonous waves of cosmic energy - no life to brighten time.

Her eyes wandered to her charge, the towering gateway that stood in her wake. It shimmered ethereally under her gaze, alluring to ones sense of curiosity. The air came to life with a sudden energy as the solid panels parted to reveal a figure clad in white silk. It was unexpected - no one ever visited that forsaken place.

'Princess!" The word was strange. Her own voice startled her, husky and raucous. There was an inadvertent sting in her tone, a defence borne of imposed solitude. "What are you doing here!" It was a demand, nothing short of restrained hostility.

The young girl was pensive for a moment. Her vibrant blue eyes emulated her questioning reproach. The long tresses of silkily golden hair swung as if a frolicking wisp of air decided to move them. After a moment of intense silence, the princess answered, "Shouldn't I be here?"

"No!" This place is off bounds, Selene!"

"Selene? I am Serenity." Serenity gazed at her curiously, her look of wise impartiality fading to one of impetuous interest. "Who are you, may I ask?"

"I am Pluto." Now her tremulous thoughts wandered on. Who was this beatific child who so resembled her princess. The likeness was uncanny, right down to the childlike quality of her features. Yet she seemed so undoubtedly unique.

Serenity glanced askance at the listless bodies of inanimate colour and the drab hue of lifelessness time possessed. She was told that time was a glorious thing, held in wonderment, deemed imperative, and dubbed the crux of all life. It seemed almost paradoxical that something regarded for those things should be so melancholy, so utterly morose. And being without inclinations to do otherwise, she broached the first question that emerged from her musings.

"Do you live here, Pluto?"

It was an unexpected query. Pluto beheld the ambiguous innocence in her eyes. It mirrored her youthful appearance, yet emanated wisdom that men spend years accumulating. "Yes!" It was not a harsh answer. Her fondness for the girl was interfering with her curt manner. If she was to survive another millennium in that place, distance from humanity must be maintained.

Serenity ventured further into the cavernous place. Her inquisitiveness seemed inexhaustible, truly novel from Pluto's perspective. "What do you do all day?"

Pluto almost wanted to laugh. She felt the waves of happiness bubble in her throat but held them with fervent seriousness. She was not going to let a child break the resistance she'd spent so long cultivating and building. "I guard the gate you came through."

Serenity looked a little disappointed. "Really? Is that all?"

"Is that all? Do you think it an easy task?"

Serenity did not answer. Her eyes drifted to the polished marble under her feet, obviously considering her reply. "I cannot say."

Pluto felt an endearing urge creep through her nerves. It hissed and cajoled her thoughts, chiding her to admit her liking for the girl. She shook at it, banished it. She refused outright to let those human impulses overwhelm her solitary mind.

"I think," Serenity said slowly, "that it is hard because you are alone."

Her simple statement was shocking. Pluto never thought her struggle, her inner turmoil, could be explained with such simplicity. It was true. The only difficult element of her work was the incredible sting of loneliness. It was always there.

She was granted sight over all living things. She was allowed to witness it all. Yet with the humour, the sadness, the immense joy, she had no one to experience it with. She had no one to help her experience it.

Not even a shadow accompanied her in that place.

Serenity seemed to sense something in her emotions because at that moment she hurried forward and rested her hand on Pluto's arm comfortingly. It was a wordless gesture, one of genuine sincerity, yet the weakness it portrayed on her part forced Pluto to deny it. She shook off the young woman with haughty movements.

"Please miss, I would like to know how you came to be here!"

Serenity blinked, affronted, before placing one porcelain hand between the white folds of her gown. She removed her hand, producing an ornate key, embedded with precious stones in a rainbow of shimmering colours.

Pluto's intake of breath was sharp - it hissed through the ominous hush with vicious energy. "Where did you get that? It belongs to the princess!"

Serenity giggled shyly, replacing the jewelled object. "I am the princess. My mother gave this to me and told me to use it wisely. I was unsure of what she meant. Her mother gave it to her, you see, and so on…" She waved her hand dismissively, once more examining her surroundings.

Pluto now started to comprehend the situation. Of all the people she watched over, the Monarchs of the Moon had been the last she thought needed guidance, and therefore, were overlooked. It had been a foolish mistake. Now, she did not know them, not even their names. Well, all except one. But still, a great sense of wrong twisted her innards, evoking a wave of acute guilt.

A surge of great energy rocked the pristine marble pathway, causing the slight princess to sway where she stood. The motion snapped her from her appreciations and her rosy cheeks bled a pallid white. "Oh, no! They are here!" She scampered towards the enormous gateway and scurried through, glancing back only once to regard her companion. "Farewell, Pluto. May the goddess Selene watch over you!"

And she was gone.

With the departure of that little ray of light, the foreboding, hostile silence reigned. It slinked back in, choking and smothering the inhabitant of that timeless place. She felt it, the pressure. It weighed heavily on her shoulders, a constant reminder of her forlorn existence.

And with the return of that still enmity, came those nagging thoughts once more. They rested at the back of her mind, gently whispering and harmlessly suggesting another route, an end to her eternal seclusion.

But what terrified her most was the overwhelming urge to surrender to it. She wanted it, that blissful sense of belonging. She wanted to hear the laughter of others, the light friendly banter she had witnessed countless times but never experienced. She wanted to be among life, to touch and taste and feel what it truly meant to be alive.

Living the way she was at that moment, she might as well have been dead.

Sudden earth shattering sounds broke her morbid ponderings. The ground below shook and rumbled fiercely, threatening to shift or crack, or even crumble away. Her eyes shot to the gateway as thin cracks crawled along its sturdy surface, tainting the polished finish with their tapering fingers.

Then, just as suddenly, all sound died an unceremonious death. She rose from the kneeling position she was previously forced to assume and moved towards the gate to investigate the cause of the disturbance.

The fresh remains of a once utopian civilisation were what she faced.

Pluto recognised it, the Moon Kingdom. The palace, now crumbling and scorched, once towered above all other constructs. The pure, unsullied masonry that shone with light now lay in pieces, marred and singed with soot and debris. She could feel the sting of tears gathering in her eyes as thoughts of all the innocent victims loomed in her mind. Such peace they shared, never once having harmed a living soul.

But then she saw it, floating above the wreckage. The little princess glided listlessly through the air, limp and lifeless. At arms length, a man also careened, reaching for her even in death. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks at the sight, and all she could do was avert her gaze.

Guilt wracked her more than any earthquake ever could.

The gate closed. Firmly, she ensured that they would remain so forever more. Such pain tore at her soul, such remorse. It was her lack of vigilance that caused the princess and her people such pain. If she had been keeping watch, none of it would have happened. She closed her eyes and raised her staff, chanting a prayer of forgiveness.

This would be it, the end of everyone's burden.

Whit hot light shot from the surrounding nothingness and consumed her. It was almost blissful as it carried her away. The light masked that place in a cloak of pastel shades, carving an idyllic passage through the gloom. And then, those images vanished along with thought and reason, and guilt.

And with that relief, a calming sense of serene contentment washed over her, and her last thought ceased abruptly.

"Alright," A fair woman of incorporeal appearance spoke gently. "You have done well, your highness. It is time for Princess Pluto to take your place." With a wave of her hand a young child of about six years old was guided to the doors, dressed in a soldier's garb. "Hopefully the princess will be better suited to the task. I suppose only time will tell."


End file.
